Border Patrol & Discrimination
My recent trip revealed the gross inadequacies and injustices embedded in America's so-called "border patrol." When crossing the Canadian border, the entire bus was held up because the border officials decided they needed to carefully question the one non-American, non-Canadian riding with us. She was Mexican--and I wonder if they would have made such a fuss if she were British or Japanese. At every airport, it was "recommended" that I take my completely metal-free sneakers off. And by "recommend," I mean rudely ordered by some 40-something jackass that hasn't been doing their job. The 9/11 commission concluded that airport security is a joke, and the U.S. got an "F" in airline passenger screening.
An article in the Times shows that I'm not the only one making observations of such incompetence and feeling pissed off. Since 9/11, many Muslim-Americans have come to fear travel so much that many choose not to leave home at all. They are filled with the same sense of frustration that I feel when I go through airport security and know that it's nearly meaningless, a mere gesture towards the thought of actual security. Lucky for me, I don't "look like a terrorist"--all I have to do is take my shoes off. I have yet to be hand-cuffed and roughed up for having the wrong name or growing a beard:
I don't want to feel safer. I want to be safer. In the real world, proven by real studies and real tests and real statistics. (You know, all of those things with a well-known liberal bias.) But apparently that is just too much to ask of our government, which is as usual living in a fantasy world where all Muslims are potential terrorists and metal detectors actually protect us from suicide bombers.
An article in the Times shows that I'm not the only one making observations of such incompetence and feeling pissed off. Since 9/11, many Muslim-Americans have come to fear travel so much that many choose not to leave home at all. They are filled with the same sense of frustration that I feel when I go through airport security and know that it's nearly meaningless, a mere gesture towards the thought of actual security. Lucky for me, I don't "look like a terrorist"--all I have to do is take my shoes off. I have yet to be hand-cuffed and roughed up for having the wrong name or growing a beard:
Most of those wrongly placed on the watch list seethe with frustration and anger, finding it unbelievable that a technologically advanced country like the United States has been unable to develop a list that can distinguish between a lurking terrorist and a harmless citizen with a Muslim name.This is just another example of how words and rhetoric ("We have made America a safer place.") have eclipsed effective policy.
I don't want to feel safer. I want to be safer. In the real world, proven by real studies and real tests and real statistics. (You know, all of those things with a well-known liberal bias.) But apparently that is just too much to ask of our government, which is as usual living in a fantasy world where all Muslims are potential terrorists and metal detectors actually protect us from suicide bombers.
posted by the Assistant at 1:06 AM
1 Comments:
Hello There,
Unfortunately, My experience at the US Boarder coming from Canada was all to similar to yours. I am an American Citizen from Mexican decent with a "Mexican" name: Jose Cruz. I have a U.S passport that clearly shows that I am a Citizen of The U.S. I was handcuffed and humiliated because according to them I have the same name as "someone they are looking for". That was there only reason. I was also given a "comment card" to express how I was treated. It's really sad that the country that I was born in and have been living in for my whole life is treating me like if I am some kind of criminal. I did file complaint with the ACLU, I hope that I get some kind of response.
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